So. Now that school’s out for the summer I’ve found that I’ve been able to devote more of my time to reading. It’s been about a week and a half since I’ve been off of work and I’ve read/finished 4 books.
1. Agatha Christie’s Poirot Investigates a set of short mystery stories involving Christie’s famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. This is Christie’s 3 Poirot novel. I’m trying to read all of the Poirot books in order of publication. I was inspired to do this from the blog The Agatha Project. (Although it hasn’t been updated in a while). It was a quick read but not nearly as satisfying as her full novels usually are. The characters are well flushed out but you don’t get much time to identify with or sympathize with them. Next up for this project is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. This will be a re-read for me as I read this one last year. I still remember who the murderer is so it will be interesting to see all of the clues that I missed the first time around.
2. Starring the Babysitter’s Club by Ann M. Martin. This series was one of my favorites as a kid. I just sort of picked it up for old time sake. The members of the club and some of the kids that they babysit are in the SMS production of Peter Pan and we get to see the production from all of the club members’ points of view. Pretty quick read.
3. Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox. I loved this non-fiction book. I’ve really been into stories (both fiction and non-fiction) set in 16th century Britain. This book tells the story of Jane Parker, who married George Boleyn, Anne’s brother. I really learned a lot from this book. This woman is often portrayed in history as the jealous wife who’s testimony sent Anne and George to the scaffold. When, in reality, her life depended on those two remaining alive. Just when she is able to pick up the pieces of her life and is accepted back into the King’s favor, becoming a lady in waiting for Henry’s next 3 wives, it all falls apart for her again when she serves the doomed Katherine Howard. Anyway, Jane Boleyn seems extremely unsympathetic (especially if you’ve read or seen The Other Boleyn Girl), but this book really sheds light on the obstacles she had to overcome and I admired her for it.
4. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I’m not sure what I expected when I sat down to read this one. I knew that the movie came out last week and that EVERYONE that I know raved about how amazing this book is. I’m not sure though. I read it. I liked it. But I didn’t cry about it or become incensed about how it ended. I sympathized with the characters, the subject (medical emancipation of a minor) was compelling but I don’t know. I guess I thought that it would be more gripping and touching than it was. Maybe I’ve become a bit more jaded with my reading. I am an extremely sensitive person. I cry pretty easily. But it’s been a while since a book really made me cry. I think after the last month that I had that I needed a good cry and the fact that this book didn’t do it for me made me a little harder on it than it deserves. At least, now I can cross this category off for the What’s in a Name challenge. So it wasn’t a waste.
This is what I’m currently working on:
1. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (just started Tuesday, part of my Fill in the Gaps 100 Project).
2. The Serpent’s Tale by Ariana Franklin (loved Mistress of the Art of Death, this is her second novel).
3. What Happens in London by Julia Quinn (the newest book from my favorite historical romance author).
I’ll try to update more often now that I have more time. And, if anyone knows any good crying novels that aren’t too cheesy please leave some suggestions!
Literary Adventures 